The space shuttle Endeavor has landed safely at Kennedy Space Center:
After two weeks of analyzing, worrying and ultimately taking no action to repair a small but deep gouge in the Endeavour's underside, NASA flight controllers cleared the shuttle to return to Earth this morning.
"You are go for the de-orbit burn," Christopher J. Ferguson, an astronaut at the NASA's mission control center in Houston, radioed to the Endeavour crew at 11:05 a.m. Eastern time.
Starting at 11:25 a.m., with broken clouds but otherwise blue skies over the landing strip and a steady breeze blowing near the ground, the Endeavour fired its maneuvering thrusters for 3 minutes and 35 seconds, to slow the aircraft and drop it out of orbit towards Earth's atmosphere. The craft cruised southwest to northeast high over Costa Rica and Cuba, and then over southern Florida, as it descended.
Loud sonic booms thundered across the space center as the shuttle passed to the east. It then made a U-turn for its final approach from the north.
In a picture-perfect landing, Endeavour's rear tires touched the runway at 12:32 p.m. The nose gently swiveled to the ground 13 seconds later. Slowed by parachutes, it rolled to a stop about a minute later.
Thank goodness for that. Another space shuttle accident might cripple NASA for decades. Now they have not only gotten the astronauts back safely despite a gouge in the shuttle, but they have shown that they can work the problem when they need to.
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